Using techniques in training that you can't use in competition

[Nick Paul]

That was bad the fuck ass Amir. Thanks for articulating that so well. I guess that's the approach I'm striving for, but haven't thought of it that deeply or come close to accomplishing that kind of awareness. Competition is the same way for me, it's not about winning a medal or trophy, it's about proving to myself I can do what I know I'm capable of under pressure against another skilled practicioner. I just believe the varying rule sets disrupt that

Edit: but if blow jobs did come with gold medals, I would care a lot more.. let's be honest

[Brian Debes]

Even though Amir gave a tough to beat answer, I will go ahead and respond. A number of people I have met only care about IBJJF. A huge portion of what Eddie shows is illegal for them. There are black belts that can be leg locked at will by blue belts AND EVEN WHITE BELTS. I'm not talking about a one time catch, I'm talking about pretty consistently... Anything off the reap and a number of other things are still illegal at IBJJF at Black Belt. So if that's your only goal, don't train those things. Train mainly sweeps, double guard pulls and MAYBE a little passing. Its a point game after all, statistically that is the techniques to know to be an IBJJF champ.

Even for IBJJF though, the things that become legal at brown... you might want to start training those now, because no one cares about wins at the blue belt level anyway in the long term and if you wait until brown to start trying you will be a white belt at those things and it will be hard to catch up.

Or, you could train everything like we do at my gym (and pretty much every 10th Planet gym I've been too) and shoot for an ultimate competition goal of something like ADCC or EBI with all subs legal. Or Grapplers quest advanced, Or Gracie Tournaments at (soon to be) purple and above, or NAGA at ANY SKILL LEVEL IN NO GI.

I personally would be ashamed to be a black belt if there were scores of white belts out there that could smash me in a certain rule set... How about you?

[Arman Fathi]

I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I can explain my philosophy.

I don't care about winning a tournament. I don't care about medals or belts or swords or blowjobs or money or whatever the hell else one might receive as an explicit or implicit reward for victory. I care about maximizing my potential as a martial artist, which means exploring as many techniques as possible, understanding them both offensively and defensively, and making them indistinguishable from an innate part of myself. I don't want to train to beat the random purple or brown belts that may show up to my local tournament; I want to train to beat Buchecha and Cyborg and Josh Barnett and Andre Galvao. And really, I don't even care about them; they are merely a convenient barometer against which I can calibrate myself.

If I win because I managed to sneak both hooks in barely enough to get back points, what have I won? If I win because my opponent was disqualified for reaping my leg, what have I won? The only victory I recognize is to learn technique, apply it, and hone it in the heat of competition.

That said, I am not a berzerk animal when I compete. I am a martial artist. I am relaxed and confident and aware of my environment, my proximity to the edge of the mat, the rules of this particular competition, my opponent's body, the words and advice flowing from his cornermen and my own. My attacks are deliberate, and prior to stepping on the tatâmi I have already considered deeply my strategy and my opponent's, taking into account how I feel in that moment about myself and about my entire technical repertoire. There are many reasons I will jettison a particular technique at this point. If my foot is hurt, I will cast aside 15 years of wrestling and pull guard. If my opponent lacks a neck, I'm not looking for guillotines. And if bicep slicers are illegal, I won't utilize them.

Mastery of a technique means you *don't* depend on it. If you do depend on it, it is the technique that has mastered you.

Masterful.

[David Rosado]

I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I can explain my philosophy.

I don't care about winning a tournament. I don't care about medals or belts or swords or blowjobs

Nah b. I can't get with you on this one.